General Statement of Knowledge Ecology International – Sixty-First Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO (WIPO Assemblies)
Agenda item 5 – General Statements
21 September 2020
In relation to the COVID-19 response, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) proposes that WIPO establish an instrument that would create reciprocal rights in government funded COVID-19 inventions, so that countries that were members of such an instrument would agree to the terms and modalities which they could share access to publicly funded inventions.
WIPO needs to provide useful and timely advice to countries struggling to address intellectual property barriers in the development, expanded manufacturing and access to new services and products to prevent and treat COVID-19 related illnesses. The new COVID 19 IP tracker is a start, but more can be done. The Director General should address this issue, in the context of the need to scale manufacturing capacity and provide affordable access to all of relevant technologies.
WIPO has not conducted analysis of the economic impact of the proposal for a new broadcasting treaty, on the distribution of income between artists, performers and the public, on the one hand, and owners of broadcasting organizations on the other, as well as on the waste associated with orphaned works, and additional transaction costs to consolidate rights and reduced access to creative works.